1.The tasks of the Committee shall be:
(a)to monitor the employment situation and employment policies in the Member States and the Union;
(b)without prejudice to Article 240 of the Treaty, to formulate opinions at the request of either the Council or the Commission or on its own initiative, and to contribute to the preparation of the Council proceedings referred to in Article 148 of the Treaty.
2.For the purposes of paragraph 1, the Committee shall, in particular, endeavour:
(a)to promote the consideration of the objective of a high level of employment in the formulation and implementation of Union policies and activities;
(b)to contribute to the procedure leading to the adoption of the broad economic guidelines in order to ensure consistency between the employment guidelines and those guidelines and contribute to the synergy between the European Employment Strategy, macroeconomic policy coordination and the process of economic reform in a mutually supportive way;
(c)to participate actively in the macroeconomic dialogue at Union level;
(d)to contribute to all aspects of the European Semester within its mandate and report on them to the Council;
(e)to promote exchanges of information and experience between Member States and with the Commission.
3.Each year, the Committee shall adopt a work programme, taking into account the policy priorities of the Council and the Commission. The work programme shall be transmitted to the Council.
4.The Committee may call on external experts where appropriate to its agenda.